Hinge and weatherseal structure for a glass panel

ABSTRACT

A glass panel is hingedly mounted for swinging movement about a structure which serves as a hinge and also as a weatherstrip. The glass panel has a substantially linear edge to which is bonded a cylindrical element, the edge of the glass panel extending into the cylindrical element for a substantial portion of a diameter. A resilient element which serves as a weatherstrip is mounted in any suitable manner on the frame, and is provided with a socket which presents a circular cross section. The cylindrical element on the linear edge of the glass panel fits into the socket thus provided in the weatherstrip, and the glass panel is thus swingable relative to the weatherstrip and frame about the axis of the cylindrical element.

United States Patent 2,405,460 8/1946 Smith Inventor John W. Belser PortClinton, Ohio Appl. No. 38,109 Filed May 18, 1970 Patented Jan. 1 l,1972 Assignee The Standard Products Company Cleveland, Ohio HINGE ANDWEATHERSEAL STRUCTURE FOR A GLASS PANEL 483, 488, 489, 384, 381, 399,383, 485, 475; 16/171, 150; USO/235,231 R References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 2,894,295 7/1959 Singleton 3,087,l93 4/1963 Eskridgeetal.

ABSTRACT: A glass panel is hingedly mounted for swinging movement abouta structure which serves as a hinge and also as a Weatherstrip. Theglass panel has a substantially linear edge to which is bonded acylindrical element, the edge of the glass panel extending into thecylindrical element for a substantial portion ofa diameter. A resilientelement which serves as a Weatherstrip is mounted in any suitable manneron the frame, and is provided with a socket which presents a circularcross section. The cylindrical element on the linear edge ofthe glasspanel fits into the socket thus provided in the Weatherstrip, and theglass panel is thus swingable relative to the Weatherstrip and frameabout the axis of the cylindrical element.

aissaials PATENTEU JAM 1 m2 INVENTOR. JOH N W. BE LSER ATTORNEYS.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field ofthe Invention Industrial uses ofglass have expanded greatly in recent years. Thus, there have beengreatly increased uses of glass for doors of public buildings, apartmentbuildings, and even private residences. Moreover, in the automobileindustry, there has been a marked increase in the use of glass over thelast few years, with the result that the upper portion of an automobilebody today displays a glass area which would have been consideredfantastic a few years ago. These increased uses of glass have presentedsome problems, especially where it is desired to make the glass panelmovable, as for example when glass is used for doors and windows.Although many automobile windows have conventionally been of the slidingtype, such windows need not be thus limited in their means of movement.One of the ever-present problems in mounting a glass panel to pivotabout a hinge is the problem ofproviding a hinge which is easilyfastened to a glass panel not enclosed in a metal frame. Such a hingemust of necessity be secured in some suitable manner to the glass, andsecuring means which are limited to bolting to the glass are undesirablebecause boltholes necessarily weaken the glass and may lead to breakageof the panel with possible accidental injury to persons coming intocontact with such broken panels. A possible alternative is to secure oneof the hinge members directly to the glass, but this solution alsopresents problems when it comes to the means for providing a reliableconnection of the hinge member with the glass, coupled with therequirement in so many applications of a good weatherseal at the hinge.All of the foregoing problems are aggravated by structures in which aheavy glass panel is suspended from a horizontal hinge disposed at thetop of the panel, or when such a heavy glass panel must be mounted topivot about a vertical hinge. The problem in heavy glass panels involvesa secure and reliable support of the glass at the hinge.

2. Description of the Prior Art The prior art in this area is advertedto in the foregoing paragraph and involves rather cumbersome metallichinges bolted or riveted or clamped in some manner to a glass panel,with the attendant risk of cracking the glass in the assembly of theglass with the hinge member.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of this invention to provide acombination hinge and weatherseal for an easily damaged panel that mustbe secured so as to be movable between open and closed positions. It isanother object to provide a hinge for a relatively heavy and somewhatfragile panel, the hinge to support the panel from a vertical axis or todepend from a horizontal axis. Still another object is to provide ahinged support exposed to inclement weather which will function inadverse weather and be substantially wind and water tight. Other objectswill be apparent from the description and drawings.

A cylindrical bead of rubber is molded along a linear edge of the glasspanel which is to be hingedly mounted. The linear edge extends into thecylindrical bead a substantial distance, preferably something more thanthe length of a radius. The dense rubber section which serves both as aweatherseal and as a socket and seal for the linear edge of the glasspanel is provided at the edge of the opening which is to be occupied bythe panel in the closed position. The weatherseal is provided with asocket which has a circular cross section, with the result that thesocket has a slot through which the cylindrical bead on the glass panelmust be forced so that the cylindrical bead can occupy the socket spacein the weatherseal.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a portion of an automobile body in which the rear window isshown as hingedly mounted according to this,

invention; and

FIG. 2 is a section through a transparent panel provided with the hingestructure of this invention, being a section substantially on line 2-2of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION The opening in whatever structure is envisioned will beprovided with suitable structure on which one member of the hinge can bemounted. Thus, in the embodiment shown, a box section 2 is made of twotelescoping channel members 4 and 6. One of the faces of the box sectionis recessed by providing inward flanges 8 and 10 in the channels 4 and 6respectively, the two flanges 8 and 10 cooperating to form a grooveportion or trough 12 in one face of the box section.

A weatherseal 14 is shown as secured to a face of the frame member orbox section 2. In the embodiment shown, the weatherseal 14 is of a typeas is usually referred to as a Weatherstrip, being made of extruded ormolded dense material such as rubber or any similar substance havingsufiicient resilience that it can be displaced by the application ofconsiderable force in the assembly of the hinge, and yet havingsufficient strength to hold the hinge in its assembled condition. Across section of the weatherseal l4 somewhat resembles as isoscelestriangle with two flanges extending out of the base and with a groove atthe vertex of the triangle.

More specifically, the body of the weatherseal has provided at the baseof the triangle a pair of parallel flanges l6 and 18 which in their freecondition extend substantially perpendicularly from the surface of thebase, but which are adapted to be deformed toward each other as shown inthe drawing to be pressed or forced into the trough 12 in theappropriate face of the frame member 2. The rubber or similar materialof which the weatherseal 14 is made is stiff enough so that the flangesl6 and 18 will tightly engage the sides of the trough or groove 12, andthe edges 20 and 22 of the isosceles triangle are tightly engaged withtwo corners of the box section 2 in order to further enhance theweathersealing characteristics of the assembly.

The isosceles triangle structure shown in FIG. 1 is provided with asocket at its vertex which consists of a groove having a substantiallycircular cross section. The groove is provided with opposed lips 22 and24 which are spaced apart by a distance substantially less than thediameter of the circular cavity which provides the socket, but greaterthan the thickness of the glass. The opposed, spaced lips thus provide aslot 25 in the socket, the slot being parallel to the axis of thecylindrical socket and open toward the framed space for which panel 26is a closure.

A transparent panel 26 is shown in FIG. 1 as providing the closure forthe door or window opening in the embodiment illustrated. Panel 26 willusually be a high-quality, temperedglass panel having, for glass,substantial strength and whatever shape may suit the requirements of theremainder of the structure. However, in the circumstances, the glasspanel will be provided with a substantially linear edge so as to providea pivot axis for the desired hinge action. In the embodiment shown inFIG. 2, panel 26 is illustrated as a substantially plane panel of glasshaving a linear edge 28 to which there is bonded a cylindrical bead 30.A suitable material for the bead 30 has been formed from anacrylonitrile rubber epoxy compound. Such a compound, when vulcanizedwhile in contact with the edge 28 of the glass, exhibits excellentadhesion to the glass. It will also be noted that the edge 28 extendsinto the cylindrical bead 30 a substantial portion of a diameter of thecylindrical bead. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the edge 28 extends into thebead 30 by something more than the length of a radius of the cylinder.

In order to provide a high degree of weathersealing characteristics, thecylindrical bead 30 and the Weatherstrip body 14 are preferably soformed that, in their unassembled and free state, the cylindrical bead30 is somewhat larger than the cavity or socket with which itcooperates. The extent of such dimensional interference will varydepending upon how tight the weatherseal needs to be and on how heavythe glass panel is, along with a number of other factors, such as theangle to which the panel 26 must swing between open and closedpositions; other considerations entering into the design will beapparent to those skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A hinge to permit relative swinging movement of two members one ofwhich is a sheet of frangible nonmetallic material having a linear edgeand the other of which is a weatherseal element having a socket ofcircular cross section, the invention comprising said weathersealelement being of a resilient nonmetallic substance and said sockethaving opposed resilient lips providing a linear slot opening thereinto,and a cylindrical element bonded to said linear edge and adapted to beintroduced into said socket through said slot for pivotal movement insaid socket.

2. A hinged panel structure comprising a metal frame element, aresilient nonmetallic weatherseal in engagement with the frame elementand provided with a socket having a substantially circular cross sectionand opposed resilient lips providing a linear slot opening thereinto, aglass sheet having a linear edge, and a cylindrical element bonded tothe sheet at the linear edge and adapted to be introduced into saidsocket through said slot to pivotally engage said socket.

3. A structure as in claim 2, wherein the cylindrical element is slottedalong a substantial portion of a diameter and said linear edge isreceived in the slotted portion.

4. An automobile window comprising a framed opening having a sideprovided with a weathersealing socket-forming member, the socket beingsubstantially circular in cross section and having opposed lipsproviding a linear slot which opens toward the framed opening, aresilient cylindrical member oscillatable in the socket in aweathersealing relationship thereto and having a slot, and a closurepanel having a linear edge in bonded engagement with the cylindricalmember in the slot of the cylindrical member and extending through theslot of the socket between said lips.

5. An automobile window comprising a framed opening having a frame edgeprovided with a trough, a weathersealing socket-forming member engagingthe frame edge at the trough, the socket being substantially circular incross section and having opposed lips providing a linear slot whichopens toward the framed opening, a resilient cylindrical memberoscillatable in the socket in a weathersealing relationship theretoandhaving a slot, and a closure panel having a linear edge in bondedengagement with the cylindrical member in the slot of the cylindricalmember and extending through the slot of the socket between said lips.

1. A hinge to permit relative swinging movement of two members one ofwhich is a sheet of frangible nonmetallic material having a linear edgeand the other of which is a weatherseal element having a socket ofcircular cross section, the invention comprising said weathersealelement being of a resilient nonmetallic substance and said sockethaving opposed resilient lips providing a linear slot opening thereinto,and a cylindrical element bonded to said linear edge and adapted to beintroduced into said socket through said slot for pivotal movement insaid socket.
 2. A hinged panel structure comprising a metal frameelement, a resilient nonmetallic weatherseal in engagement with theframe element and provided with a socket having a substantially circularcross section and opposed resilient lips providing a linear slot openingthereinto, a glass sheet having a linear edge, and a cylindrical elementbonded to the sheet at the linear edge and adapted to be introduced intosaid socket through said slot to pivotally engage said socket.
 3. Astructure as in claim 2, wherein the cylindrical element is slottedalong a substantial portion of a diameter and said linear edge isreceived in the slotted portion.
 4. An automobile window comprising aframed opening having a side provided with a weathersealingsocket-forming member, the socket being substantially circular in crosssection and having opposed lips providing a linear slot which openstoward the framed opening, a resilient cylindrical member oscillatablein the socket in a weathersealing relationship thereto and having aslot, and a closure panel having a linear edge in bonded engagement withthe cylindrical member in the slot of the cylindrical member andextending through the slot of the socket between said lips.
 5. Anautomobile window comprising a framed opening having a frame edgeprovided with a trough, a weathersealing socket-forming member engagingthe frame edge at the trough, the socket being substantially circular incross section and having opposed lips providing a linear slot whichopens toward the framed opening, a resilient cylindrical memberoscillatable in the socket in a weathersealing relationship thereto andhaving a slot, and a closure panel having a linear edge in bondedengagement with the cylindrical member in the slot of the cylindricalmember and extending through the slot of the soCket between said lips.